Public confidence in the police is lower than it ever has been

Dear Editor,

I refer to Mr Hamilton Green’s letter ‘Where is the eyewitness?’ which appeared in your paper of October 1, 2008. Hammie’s short letter is on the button. I particularly agree with the maxim that all the Guyanese people seek is the truth and justice. Yet perceptions of truth and justice are highly influenced by the level of one’s confidence in the police and in the judicial system. Sadly, the public’s confidence in the police is lower than it has ever been in living memory.

I am not a recluse and get about sufficiently. Significantly, since the gruesome Lindo Creek murders I have not met, read, spoken to or overheard a single Guyanese who believes that the police or Joint Services are not responsible for the deaths of those hapless miners at Lindo Creek.

To increase public confidence in the police is also to increase their effectiveness. I sincerely hope the implications of this simple nexus and relationship are not lost on our erudite and enigmatic Minister of Home Affairs.

Yours faithfully,
F Hamley Case